A History of the Islamic RepublicAuthor: Michael AxworthyPublisher: Oxford University PressISBN: 0190468963Category:Page: 528View: 8362

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In Revolutionary Iran, Michael Axworthy guides us through recent Iranian history from shortly before the 1979 Islamic revolution through the summer of 2009, when Iranians poured into the streets of Tehran by the hundreds of thousands, demanding free, democratic government. Axworthy explains how that outpouring of support for an end to tyranny in Iran paused and then moved on to other areas in the region like Egypt and Libya, leaving Iran's leadership unchanged. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 was a defining moment of the modern era. Its success unleashed a wave of Islamist fervor across the Middle East and signaled a sharp decline in the appeal of Western ideologies in the Islamic world. Axworthy takes readers through the major periods in Iranian history over the last thirty years: the overthrow of the old regime and the creation of the new one; the Iran-Iraq war; the reconstruction era following the war; the reformist wave led by Mohammed Khatami; and the present day, in which reactionaries have re-established control. Throughout, he emphasizes that the Iranian revolution was centrally important in modern history because it provided the world with a clear model of development that was not rooted in Western ideologies. Whereas the world's major revolutions of the previous two centuries had been fuelled by Western, secular ideologies, the Iranian Revolution drew its inspiration from Islam. Revolutionary Iran is both richly textured and from one of the leading authorities on the region; combining an expansive scope with the most accessible and definitive account of this epoch in all its humanity.

Iran and the World in the Age of the AyatollahsAuthor: Ray TakeyhPublisher: Oxford University PressISBN: 0199754101Category: HistoryPage: 328View: 8404

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For over a quarter century, Iran has been one of America's chief nemeses. Ever since Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew the Shah in 1979, the relationship between the two nations has been antagonistic: revolutionary guards chanting against the Great Satan, Bush fulminating against the Axis of Evil, Iranian support for Hezbollah, and President Ahmadinejad blaming the U.S. for the world's ills. The unending war of words suggests an intractable divide between Iran and the West, one that may very well lead to a shooting war in the near future. But as Ray Takeyh shows in this accessible and authoritative history of Iran's relations with the world since the revolution, behind the famous personalities and extremist slogans is a nation that is far more pragmatic--and complex--than many in the West have been led to believe. Takeyh explodes many of our simplistic myths of Iran as an intransigently Islamist foe of the West. Tracing the course of Iranian policy since the 1979 revolution, Takeyh identifies four distinct periods: the revolutionary era of the 1980s, the tempered gradualism following the death of Khomeini and the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1989, the "reformist" period from 1997-2005 under President Khatami, and the shift toward confrontation and radicalism since the election of President Ahmadinejad in 2005. Takeyh shows that three powerful forces--Islamism, pragmatism, and great power pretensions--have competed in each of these periods, and that Iran's often paradoxical policies are in reality a series of compromises between the hardliners and the moderates, often with wild oscillations between pragmatism and ideological dogmatism. The U.S.'s task, Takeyh argues, is to find strategies that address Iran's objectionable behavior without demonizing this key player in an increasingly vital and volatile region. With its clear-sighted grasp of both nuance and historical sweep, Guardians of the Revolution will stand as the standard work on this controversial--and central--actor in world politics for years to come.

Life of the AyatollahAuthor: Baqer MoinPublisher: I.B.TaurisISBN: 9781850431282Category: Heads of statePage: 352View: 4272

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This biography examines the process which saw an old Muslim theologian overthrow the Shah of Iran and become the leader of a militant Islamic regime. It examines the background and early life of the Ayatollah and the ideas and beliefs that lay behind his opposition to the Shah and formed the foundation of the new Islamic state.

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Why is Iran continuously in the news? How has the Islamic Republic developed ideologically since the 1979 revolution? What are the best ways of comprehending the country at this critical juncture in its history? These are some of the questions at the heart of Arshin Adib-Moghaddam's book, which offers novel methodological and theoretical insights in explaining the foreign relations and domestic politics of post-revolutionary Iran. From the nuclear issue, to the perpetual stand-off with the United States, from the future of Iranian democracy to Iranian-Arab relations, from American neo-conservatism to Islamic utopian-romanticism, from Avicenna to Ayatollah Khomeini, the author guides the reader through the complexities that bedevil our understanding of contemporary Iran. In exposing the limitations of mainstream representations of the country and the wider Muslim world, Iran in World Politics makes a powerful case for 'critical Iranian studies', for a new system of thought that pluralises both the way we see Iran, and the international politics enveloping the country.

Its Global ImpactAuthor: John L. Esposito,Middle East Institute (Washington, D.C.),Royal Institute of International AffairsPublisher: University Press of FloridaISBN: 9780813010175Category: HistoryPage: 346View: 1871

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"A wonderfully concise yet complete survey of the background and status of Islamic revivalism in all of its various forms in each region."--SAIS Review "A rich and thoughtful study of one of the most significant events of recent times."--School of Oriental and African Studies Bulletin Marking the tenth anniversary of the Ayatollah Khomeini's triumphant return to the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1989 proved a benchmark year in Iran's history, with the condemnation of author Salman Rushdie to execution, the denunciation or Iranian liberals and the West, the removal of Khomeini's chosen successor, and the death of Khomeini himself. John L. Esposito introduces The Iranian Revolution with an explanation of why the present is a turning point for Iran. He isolates the export of Islamic revolution as central to the Republic's character. A concise description of the complexities of that issue is followed by a discussion of its effects within and outside Iran, with the majority of the collection then devoted to insightful analyses of the Republic's impact throughout the Islamic world. International experts from Iran, Europe, Africa, and the United States assess worldwide impact of the Iranian Revolution on other Muslim societies and give us a remarkable analysis of the status of Islamic revivalism in a far-flung array of Islamic statues and societies--Lebanon, Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia, Nigeria, Turkey, the USSR, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Iraq. The book owes its quality not only to the currency of its subject matter but also to its distinguished contributors, who address such issues as the failure of the Iranian revolution to replicate itself in other countries and the extent to which Iran's experience has shaped the politics, economics, and cultures of other countries. Sponsors of the book and of the 1989 conference that inspired it are the Middle East Institute, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Royal Institute of International Affairs. This objective and thought-provoking assessment of the Islamic Republic of Iran's success to date in implementing its objectives, as well as its prospects for the future, makes timely reading for anyone seeking an understanding of the revolution's impact. Contents Part I. Iran 1. Introduction, by John L. Esposito and James P. Piscatori 2. The Iranian Revolution: A Ten-Year Perspective, by John L. Esposito 3. Iran's Export of the Revolution: Politics, Ends, and Means, by R. K. Ramazani 4. Iranian Ideology and Worldview: The Cultural Export of Revolution, by Farhang Rajaee Part II. The Middle East 5. Iraq: Revolutionary Threats and Regime Responses, by Philip Robins 6. The Impact of the Iranian Revolution on the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf States, by David E. Long 7. Lebanon: The Internal Conflict and the Iranian Connection, by Augustus Richard Norton 8. The Impact of the Iranian Revolution on Egypt, by Shahrough Akhavi 9. Tunisia and Libya: Responses to the Islamic Impulse, by Lisa Anderson Part III. Southwest Asia and Central Asia 10. The Mujahidin and the Future of Afghanistan, by Olivier Roy 11. Soviet Central Asia: Does Moscow Fear Iranian Influence? by Martha Brill Olcott Part IV: Southeast Asia 12. Malaysian and Indonesian Islamic Movements and the Iranian Connection, by Fred R. von der Mehden 13. The Iranian Revolution and the Muslims in the Philippines, by Cesar Adib Majul Part V. Africa 14. Islamization in the Sudan and the Iranian Revolution, by John O. Voll 15. Islamic Revivalism in Nigeria: Homegrown or Externally Induced? by Ibrahim A. Gambari 16. The Global Impact of the Iranian Revolution: A Policy Perspective, by John L. Esposito and James P. Piscatori John L. Esposito is director of the Center for International Studies and professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross.

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In the summer of 1979, at a time when the viability of the Islamic Republic of Iran was being widely questioned in the Western media and the historical background of the revolution that had led to its establishment was largely unknown, Hamid Algar delivered four lectures on the Islamic Revolution at the Muslim Institute in London. In clear and concise fashion, he examined the historical links between Iran and Shi'a Islam; the life an personality of Imam Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution; the career and ideas of Ali Shari'ati, "religious intellectual;" and the course of the events that in little more than a year led to the overthrow of one of the most deeply entrenched dictatorships in the Muslim world. Now reissued in substantially revised form, the text of these lectures remains a useful introduction to the revolution, arguably the most important event in modern Muslim history. New translations made by the author from the writings of Imam Khomeini and Ali Shari'ati enhance the utility of the work.

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A comparative analysis of the ways in which Islam has become entangled with the process of democratization in both Egypt & Iran, authoritarian regimes that have faced increasing demands for reform.

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The post-Khomeini era has profoundly changed the socio-political landscape of Iran. Since 1989, the internal dynamics of change in Iran, rooted in a panoply of socioeconomic, cultural, institutional, demographic, and behavioural factors, have led to a noticeable transition in both societal and governmental structures of power, as well as the way in which many Iranians have come to deal with the changing conditions of their society. This is all exacerbated by the global trend of communication and information expansion, as Iran has increasingly become the site of the burgeoning demands for women's rights, individual freedoms, and festering tensions and conflicts over cultural politics. These realities, among other things, have rendered Iran a country of unprecedented-and at time paradoxical-changes.

Paradox and Power in the Islamic RepublicAuthor: Ray TakeyhPublisher: Holt PaperbacksISBN: 9780805086614Category: Political SciencePage: 272View: 6225

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"Savvy and accessible . . . A shrewd, timely guide to Iran's schisms, interests and ambitions."--The Washington Post Book World In Hidden Iran, leading Middle East expert Ray Takeyh demystifies the Iranian regime and shows how this pivotal country's internal conflicts have produced its belligerent international posture, especially toward the United States. With President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pushing the development of a nuclear program, making a play for regional preeminence, and stirring up anti-Israel sentiment, the consequences of not understanding Iran have never been higher. Takeyh explains why this country continues to confound American expectations and offers a new paradigm for managing our relations with this rising power--at a time when getting Iran right has become increasingly urgent for America.

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Scores of books and articles have been published, addressing one or another aspect of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Missing from this body of scholarship, however, has been a comprehensive analysis of the intellectual and ideological cornerstones of one of the most dramatic revolutions in our time. In this remarkable volume, Hamid Dabashi brings together, in a sustained and engagingly written narrative, the leading revolutionaries who have shaped the ideological disposition of this cataclysmic event. Dabashi has spent over ten years studying the writings, in their original Persian and Arabic, of the most influential Iranian clerics and thinkers. Examining the revolutionary sentiments and ideas of such figures as Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Ali Sharicati, Morteza Motahhari, Sayyad Abolhasan Bani-Sadr, and finally the Ayatollah Khomeini, the work also analyzes the larger historical and theoretical implications of any construction of "the Islamic Ideology." Carefully located in the social and intellectual context of the four decades preceding the 1979 revolution, Theology of Discontent is the definitive treatment of the ideological foundations of the Islamic Revolution, with particular attention to the larger, more enduring ramifications of this revolution for radical Islamic revivalism in the entire Muslim world. This volume will be of interest to Islamicists, Middle East historians and specialists, as well as scholars and students of "liberation theologies," comparative religious revolutions, and mass collective behavior. Bruce Lawrence of Duke University calls this volume "a superb and unprecedented study.... In brilliant figural strokes, he arrays EuroAmerican sociological theory as the crucial backdrop of a deeper understanding of contemporary Iranian history." Hamid Dabashi is professor of Persian studies at Columbia University. He is the author of, among other works, the acclaimed Authority in Islam: From the Rise of Muhammad to the Establishment of the Umayyads, issued by Transaction, which won the Association of American Publishers Award for most outstanding professional and scholarly publication in religion and philosophy.

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For decades, political observers and pundits have characterized the Islamic Republic of Iran as an ideologically rigid state on the verge of collapse, exclusively connected to a narrow social base. In A Social Revolution, Kevan Harris convincingly demonstrates how they are wrong. Previous studies ignore the forceful consequences of three decades of social change following the 1979 revolution. Today, more people in the country are connected to welfare and social policy institutions than to any other form of state organization. In fact, much of Iran’s current political turbulence is the result of the success of these social welfare programs, which have created newly educated and mobilized social classes advocating for change. Based on extensive fieldwork conducted in Iran between 2006 and 2011, Harris shows how the revolutionary regime endured though the expansion of health, education, and aid programs that have both embedded the state in everyday life and empowered its challengers. This first serious book on the social policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran opens a new line of inquiry into the study of welfare states in countries where they are often overlooked or ignored.

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Twenty-two years after Ayatollah Khomeini's ascent to power in Iran many aspects of his 1979 Islamic revolution remain obscure if not baffling. For instance, in November 1978 an offer was made to him in his Paris exile to return to Iran with international guarantees of freedom of speech and action. He refused and demanded the departure of the Shah. Americans put pressure on the monarch to leave the country. Khomeini arrived in Tehran in early February 1979, and he immediately demanded the return of the Shah and his trial before an Islamic tribunal! No one could give a valid explanation of this contradiction in Khomeini's conduct and demands. Many other mysteries in the unfolding of the revolution and the policies of the Islamic republic which replaced the monarchy have gone unexplained up to now. Scholars and experts in the West have offered the usual explanations for the Islamic revolution-corruption, deepening gaps between the rich and the poor, rapid industrialization, sky-rocketing inflation, westernizing policies that offended traditions, lack of democratic institutions, authoritarian rule, and on and on. But such characteristics which exist in other Muslim countries, especially in the Arab world, fail to clairify the particularities of the Iranian revolution. Indeed, as Ambassador Hoveyda points out, Iran is not an Arab country. It has kept alive its ancient mythological heritage which is not Islamic. It is an Indo-European nation with a recorded history of three thousand years! To understand the real causes of the 1979 revolution one must refer to the deep-rooted beliefs of Iranians and to their very rich mythology. One must also take into account the kind of Islam-shiism-Iranians have created and nurtured. In fact, Iran is a powerful example of how mythologies remain alive and can account for the conduct of a whole nation. Hoveyda shows the influence of myths in history-in-the-making. Indeed, he has found in the Iranian revolution many points that can be clarified only by the impact of old mythology and mindsets. He provides a very original explanation of the events that led to the fall of the Shah and the ascent of Khomeini, changing the political and diplomatic situation in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea region. As such it will be of great interest to scholars, students, researchers, and foreign policy makers involved with the Middle East and Islamic fundamentalism.

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On 1 February 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran to a tumultuous welcome and the Iranian revolution that that he masterminded has become one of the defining moments of the modern age. Today the challenge of radical Islam represents the greatest threat to world peace seen since the darkest days of the Cold War, and the legacy of Khomeini’s Islamic Revolution lies at the heart of many of the world’s most intractable conflicts. Khomeini’s Ghost is the definitive biographical account of how an impoverished young student from a remote area of southern Iran came to be the political and the spiritual leader of his country. Drawing on a wide variety of Iranian sources, including religious figures who knew and worked with Khomeini both in exile and in power, Con Coughlin examines in detail the principles of Khomeini’s Islamic Revolution and the impact of his legacy today, whether it is in Iran’s support for radical Islamic groups or Iran’s commitment to developing an atom bomb. Frighteningly topical, compellingly readable and written with authority and profound understanding of the subject, this is political biography at its best.

The Revolution in Iran and Its ConsequencesAuthor: James BuchanPublisher: Simon and SchusterISBN: 1416597824Category: HistoryPage: 432View: 4555

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A myth-busting insider’s account of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 that destroyed US influence in the country and transformed the politics of the Middle East and the world. The 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran was one of the seminal events of our time. It inaugurated more than thirty years of war in the Middle East and fostered an Islamic radicalism that shapes foreign policy in the United States and Europe to this day. Drawing on his lifetime of engagement with Iran, James Buchan explains the history that gave rise to the Revolution, in which Ayatollah Khomeini and his supporters displaced the Shah with little diffi­culty. Mystifyingly to outsiders, the people of Iran turned their backs on a successful Westernized government for an amateurish religious regime. Buchan dispels myths about the Iranian Revolution and instead assesses the historical forces to which it responded. He puts the extremism of the Islamic regime in perspective: a truly radical revolution, it can be compared to the French or Russian Revolu­tions. Using recently declassified diplomatic papers and Persian-language news reports, diaries, memoirs, interviews, and theological tracts, Buchan illumi­nates both Khomeini and the Shah. His writing is always clear, dispassionate, and informative. The Iranian Revolution was a turning point in modern history, and James Buchan’s Days of God is, as London’s Independent put it, “a compelling, beautifully written history” of that event.